Child sex offender ‘hesitantly’ allowed to go free after four months in prison

A former doctor and Boy Scout leader sentenced to five years behind bars for sexually abusing a boy up to 200 times has been ordered to be released from prison after just four months.

Joseph T. Mackey, 45, was sentenced in November after pleading guilty to statutory sodomy of a teenage boy who was a patient at his medical practice in Blue Springs, Missouri. The boy also knew Mackey through Boy Scout activities, the Kansas City Star reports.

Mackey is now set to be released on probation after completing a 120-day sex offender assessment program in prison, according to an order from a Jackson County judge who noted that the evaluator “hesitantly” recommended Mackey be freed on probation.

Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County prosecutor’s office, told the newspaper that Mackey’s release after four months is not uncommon, but acknowledged that such shortened sentences can lead to complaints from the public. The 120-day program, according to the newspaper, determines the potential risk of convicted sex offenders and advises judges on whether they can be rehabilitated with treatment or if they need to serve their entire sentences in custody.

In February, Mackey sought to alter the conditions of his probation ahead of his release to allow him to live at home with his wife and two sons, ages 9 and 11. But prosecutors, in turn, said Mackey’s sentencing report showed “several areas of concern, including but not limited to, the defendant characterizing his relationship with the victim as a ‘father-son’ type relationship.’”

Prosecutors at the time said Mackey also showed an “apparent lack of concern or empathy for his victim,” who characterized Mackey as “extremely dangerous” during his sentencing in November. The man, now in his early 30s, said he met Mackey through Boy Scout activities when he was 11 years old and was also a patient of his. The victim, according to court records, said Mackey had sexually abused him as many as 200 times and that the abuse tormented him for years, leading to therapy and PTSD.

“As a seemingly trusted medical professional, Scout and community leader, he knew what I needed as a young child and chose to take whatever he wanted of me,” the man said in a statement. “I was robbed of normalcy and a normal adolescence. It is my firm belief that if this man is left unsupervised, he will try in some way to manipulate people again.”

In October, a judge in Jackson County awarded the man $120 million in damages, including $100 million in punitive damages to “punish defendant and to deter defendant and others from sexually abusing minors,” the Kansas City Star reported.

Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Marco Roldan last week rejected Mackey’s request but ordered that Mackey – who lost his medical license after allegations from three of his former patients surfaced, including the victim in his criminal case — be released on probation. Mackey’s attorney declined to comment last week, according to the newspaper.

Mackey, according to jail records, remained in custody at the Farmington Correctional Center as of late Sunday. According to the terms of his probation, he’s barred from living with or having unsupervised contact with minors. He must also complete a sex offender treatment program, register as a sex offender and not have contact with the victim.